Chapter 4
Her eyes stung.
“I thought it was gone.”
Margaret sat on the edge of the blue sofa. “I knew it mattered to you.”
“You knew?”
“I saw you looking for it.”
Claire closed the book carefully. “Then why didn’t you say anything?”
Margaret looked toward the window.
“Because I was not very good at saying the right things when they mattered.”
The admission was so unexpected that Claire remained silent.
Margaret folded her gloves together. “Adrian believes you left because of Sophia.”
“I left because of many things.”
“Yes.”
The certainty in her voice unsettled Claire.
Margaret continued, “He thinks if he can convince you that the pie was insignificant, you’ll come back.”
“He has already tried.”
“He may try harder.”
Claire’s shoulders tightened. “Is that why you’re here? To tell me I should return?”
“No.”
Margaret reached into her handbag and removed a second envelope.
This one was cream-colored and sealed with a strip of dark green wax.
Claire recognized the handwriting immediately.
Adrian’s.
“What is that?” she asked.
“Something you were never meant to see.”
Emily rose from the sofa. “Claire, you don’t have to open it.”
“I know.”
Claire took the envelope.
The wax had already been broken. Inside was a single sheet of paper.
She read the first line.
Margaret, I need you to stop inviting Sophia to Claire’s family occasions.
Claire looked up.
Margaret’s expression had changed. The controlled composure was gone, replaced by a tired sadness.
“What is this?”
“A letter Adrian wrote to me six months after your wedding.”
Claire read on.
Sophia keeps appearing because you continue to make room for her. Claire notices. She says nothing, but she notices. I cannot ask her to accept a marriage in which she is always standing beside someone else.
Claire’s fingers tightened around the paper.
The letter continued.
I am asking you to help me establish distance. Sophia is not my responsibility anymore. She has her own apartment, her own work, and people who care about her. If we keep treating her as though she is still the girl who needs saving, none of us will move forward.
Claire read the paragraph twice.
Then a third time.
“Why didn’t he follow his own advice?” she whispered.
Margaret’s eyes lowered. “Because Sophia came to him with a problem.”
“What problem?”
“She had lost her job.”
Claire looked toward Emily.
Margaret continued, “It was not a crisis. She had savings. She could have found another position. But Adrian felt responsible for her. He offered her work at one of the hotels. She declined. Then he began inviting her to the house more often.”